CHAPTER XXXIII
SIZE OF ROOMS AND HEIGHT OF CEILINGS.

THE ceiling in every part occupied by patients, should be twelve feet high, and in the centre building above the basement, should be as much as sixteen feet, to give a proper architectural effect. The main corridors of the wings should not be less than twelve feet wide, nor those of the centre building less than sixteen. The parlors and other large rooms should occupy a space equal to about twenty feet square. The single chambers for patients should be made as large as can be well brought about, provided their dimensions are not so great as to lead to two patients being placed in the same room, which ought not to be allowed. Nine feet front by eleven feet deep will probably be adopted as the best size, although eight by ten is admissible, and has the advantage that when not larger than this, two patients are not likely to be put into one room. If the rooms are larger, this is almost certain to be done whenever a hospital becomes crowded, and it is really never either proper or safe, to have two insane patients sleep in the same room without an attendant in it, or in an adjoining one. Great convenience will be found in having in each ward at least one chamber of the size of two single rooms, for the use of a patient with a special attendant, or in cases of severe illness.